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SXSW Film conjures up opening night magic with premiere of The Incredible Burt Wonderstone

The Incredible Burt Wonderstone will be the SXSW 2013 Opening Night film.
Courtesy of SXSW

We are less than two months away from the insanity of SXSW, and now film buffs will have an idea of what's in store for 2013.

Announced Tuesday, SXSW Film's opening night will be the site of the world premiere of the new comedy The Incredible Burt Wonderstone, starring Steve Carell as Burt Wonderstone and Steve Buscemi as Anton Marvelton, a duo of feuding Las Vegas magicians who are struggling to bring back the magic in their partnership.

Their career is threatened with the rise of a guerilla street magician, played by Jim Carrey, and in order to regain their fans, it will be up to Wonderstone to rekindle the fire that made him fall in love with magic as a young boy.

The Incredible Burt Wonderstone is the latest feature film from director Don Scardino, with a screenplay written by Jonathan Goldstein and John Francis Daley.

The Incredible Burt Wonderstone is the latest feature film from director Don Scardino, with a screenplay written by Jonathan Goldstein and John Francis Daley. The film also stars Olivia Wilde, Alan Arkin and James Gandolfini.

Along with the opening night film, SXSW released additional titles that will grace the silver screens throughout the festival, each one exhibiting a unique allure for many tastes in film genre.

Downloaded, a documentary that details the rise and fall of Napster, will serve as an interesting guide to the digital revolution, something that has certainly impacted the growth of SXSW into new media. The film Drinking Buddies will mark the welcome return of Joe Swanberg to SXSW. The movie, which also stars Olivia Wilde, explores the blurry line that beer can create between “friends” and “more than friends.”

And fans of horror will get a special treat with the world premiere of Evil Dead, the much anticipated remake of the 1981 cult hit that launched the careers of director Sam Raimi and cult film icon Bruce Campbell. Directed by Fede Alvarez, the horror film will return to the lonely cabin in the woods and the demon-summoning Book of the Dead.

The complete feature film lineup will be announced on January 31 with the shorts lineup following suit on February 6.

With an already tantalizing sampling revealed today, SXSW will certainly be doing justice to the fact that the SXSW Film Conference and Festival will be celebrating its 20th anniversary this year when the festival kicks off. SXSW Film runs March 8 through March 16.